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Tuesday, March 25, 2014

1965 Topps #23 Bob Tiefenauer

One of the things I enjoy doing on my blog is featuring the Heritage singles and their vintage counterpart. When I first started doing this, it seemed like you would find cards from each of the respective years which featured players from the same team on a corresponding card number. The last couple of years, this doesn't seem to be the case (at least with the Braves cards). This year there will be five Braves on cards which share the same card number as a Brave player from the 1965 set: #82, 170, 200, 346 and 383.

First up, from 1965 Topps, number 23- Bob Tiefenauer.

One look at Tiefenauer, and I think of the Cheshire card; he looks like he's up to no good. Maybe he's about to unleash a fastball chin-high on some pitcher who plunked a Brave (of course, as a knuckleballer, just how fast would he have thrown?) Maybe he's going to cross up his catcher and throw one to the groin. He may not be smiling, but he's sure got a smirk that looks like he's plotting some mischief.

Bob's time with Milwaukee was a short one. After pitching the two previous seasons in a Braves uniform, Bob appeared in just six games (7 innings) for Milwaukee in 1965 before being dealt to the Yankees on June 16th for pitcher Tom Dukes. Having worn the pinstripes for just under two months, Tiefenauer was then purchased by the Indians from the Yankees on August 11th. Bob's record in Cleveland that year was rough: 0-5 in just 15 games (22.1 IP) and he would only pitch a total of 24.2 more innings in the majors after that (split between the Indians and Cubs in 1967 and 1968).

A veteran of parts of 10 major league seasons, Bob also spent parts of Nineteen (!!) different seasons in the minors before calling it quits in 1969 at the age of thirty-nine. He went on to work for the Phillies as a bullpen coach and minor league pitching coach for nearly twenty years.